Asking Important Questions: Research on ePortfolios ePortfolio 2005 Cambridge, England October 29, 2005 Barbara Cambridge, Co-director, National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research

Need for research to keep pace with and inform practice Need for research to keep pace with and inform practice Multiplying portfolio use from individual classes to institutional programs Lack of research component of many of these projects and programs

National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research Institutions commit for 3 years 3 cohorts of 10 institutions each Institutional projects Collaborative question Meetings twice yearly to refine projects, critique process and findings, and encourage project continuation

Illustrative Categories of Projects Identity development Disciplinary influence on learning Integrative learning Institutional goals

Professional identity How does preservice teacher professional identity develop over the course of a programmatic eportfolio experience? University of Texas, San Antonio

Identity with educational institution How is student representation of research in the university, which has been shown to affect students’ institutional identities and participation, enhanced through eportfolios? University of Illinois, Champaign Urbana

Cultural identity How does Hawaiian identity influence student self reflection on learning experiences and academi and career goals in eportfolios? laulima-cooperation a’o loko-inspiring others through example mo’olelo-storytelling huala’imi n’auao-journey for lifelong learning Kapi’olani Community College

Issues in the discipline To what extent do discipline-related issues shape eportfolio implementation? Washington State University

Psychology How is progress in the ten dimensions of understanding within psychology supported by eportfolio use? Clemson University

Rhetoric and Composition How do successful and unsuccessful revisers in first-year composition courses articulate their revision choices in their eportfolio reflections? What does analysis of reflections tell about the effect of revision on final products? University of Georgia

Connections between academic study and professional reality How does the use of eportfolios, blogs, and wikis influence students’ making of explicit connections among their aptitudes, knowledge, and skills and the real work of engineering? Stanford University

Integration of learning across and beyond academic study How does the practice of integrative thinking supported by eportfolios transfer with students across their years of undergraduate education and into their personal and professional lives? George Mason University

Integration through linking Why do students create links and what kinds of materials do they link? Through links are students reflecting, integrating, building community, and/or providing context? St. Olaf College

The institutional goal of retention of students What is the impact of eportfolios on student retention and satisfaction? Thomas College

The institutional goal of adding value How do students’ eportfolios demonstrate academic and professional growth that verifies claims of value-added by a university education? The Ohio State University

Institutional representation to the community What ways of communicating data from student portfolios are most effective in an institutional eportfolio that communicates to communities outside the academy? University of Nebraska Omaha

Collaborative question How does reflection as supported by electronic portfolios influence student learning? Artifact analysis: Description of the artifact Thick description of the artifact Impact of artifact on student learning and/or the learning environment

Examples of artifacts - quicktime movie of part of a concert performance - letter as preface to midterm assessment - reflection connecting theme of a play attended to theme of a learning community - thrice-revised webpage layout - definition of a learning goal about diversity - team-designed webpage - opening page of eportfolio

For questions about the projects in the National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio projects, contact dcambrid@gmu.edu bcambridge@ncte.edu kyancey@english.fsu.edu